Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has recently developed guidelines for establishing a comprehensive crisis response system for behavioral health. Per these guidelines, a comprehensive system should provide individuals in crisis with “someone to call,” “someone to respond,” and “a place to go” to receive crisis response services.

People with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (SUDs) benefit from integrated treatment to address both disorders concurrently. For several decades, policymakers and behavioral health systems have worked to overcome the historical separation between mental health and SUD treatment to improve care for people with co-occurring disorders.

Health Information Technology (HIT) was identified as a critical component of the HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration. To support the implementation of the Roadmap, an ASPE study was conducted to provide an overview of HIT adoption and utilization among behavioral health providers.

This brief summarizes findings from a research project that examined access to and use of tele-mental health services among individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) and behavioral health consumer and provider perceptions of the optimal balance of telehealth and in-person services for people with SMI and SED.

Insufficient access to behavioral health (BH) care and the inability to get timely care are significant problems in the United States. Concerns about BH network adequacy have been prompted by evidence of narrow networks for BH, variation in network adequacy across plans, and evidence that network adequacy impacts access to certain specialties.

Assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) is a civil court procedure whereby a judge orders an adult with serious mental illness (SMI) to comply with community-based treatment. Developed as a less restrictive alternative to involuntary hospitalization, AOT focuses on individuals at risk of clinical deterioration or rehospitalization because they do not voluntarily comply with prescribed treatment.

Per Section 223(d)(7)(A) of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014 (Public Law 113-93), the HHS Secretary must submit to Congress an annual report on the use of funds provided under all demonstration programs conducted under this subsection, not later than one year after the date on which the first state is selected for a demonstration program under this subsection, and annually t

This report provides an overview of transition services for clients graduating from Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC). CSC Programs have been successfully implemented across the US, including through support from the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant set aside funds for people with early psychosis.

This brief is the third publication from the Continuity of Care Services Following Coordinated Specialty Care study. It provides a short overview of the different approaches to continuity of care for young adults who have attended CSC programs and explores avenues for integration within programs and organizations as a way to support young adults following a completion of a CSC program.

The Coordinated Specialty Care Transition Study: Final Report provides an overview of transition services for clients graduating from Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC). This the second publication from the Continuity of Care Services Following Coordinated Specialty Care study.